Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Acquired by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,395 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Unionview LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 4.3% in the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 807 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $5.63 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $267.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,342,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,797,103. The company has a market capitalization of $143.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $279.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $308.66. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.